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No. 749,927. PATENTED JAN. 19, 1 904.

' ,W. C. FORBES.

DISTANCE RECORDER FOR SHIPS.

' APPLICATION FILED MAR. 28. 1903. no MODEL. 2 sums-sum 1.

No. 749,927. PATENTED JAN. 19, 1904. R J

. W. G. FORBES. DISTANCE RECORDER FOR SHIPS. APPLICATION FILED MAR, 28, 1903. V i no menu. 2 snnn s-snsm 2 a/ 6% v "2? {m V R fifi s Tn: uomls PETERS c0; moraumo vuswmcmu. a. c.

Patented January 19, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM CHALMERS FORBES, OF ELSTERNWICK, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA.

DISTANCE-RECORDER FOR SHIPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 749,927, dated January 19, 1904.

A li tion fil d March 28,1903. Serial No. 150,086. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM OHALMERS FORBES, master mariner, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Brickwood street, Elsternwick, in the State of Victoria and Commonwealth of Australia, have invented an Improved Distance-Indicator for Ships, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has been devised for the purpose of providing a reliable distance-indicator forships as an improvement on the ordinary log at present in use for this purpose, which is defective, inasmuch as it is always liable to be influenced by contrary currents, eddies, &c., in the water or become entangled in seaweed or interfered with by fish or birds, whereas by the construction of my indicator the possibility of impeding the operation of same is minimized.

Briefly stated, this invention comprises arotator situated in the inlet branch of an invert ed-U-shaped pipe the mouth of which projects forwardlyfrom the bottom of the ship, said rotator having a rotary motion imparted to it by the inrush of water as the ship advances, which motion is conveyed by means ofrods, cords, or chains, &c., as hereinafter explained, to the distance meter and indicator situated in the chart-room or other convenient. place on the bridge or deck.

It should be observed that the whole of the operating parts are so arranged in their casing that they may be readily withdrawn should the rotation of the rotator be checked or any other part become inoperative.

The drawings attached hereto, in conjunction with the following detailed description of the various parts, illustrate clearly the construction and mode of operation of my invention.

Figure 1 is a view in elevation, partly in" section, of an apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2

is a horizontal section on line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrow thereon.

The rotater 1 (consisting of blades or vanes mounted on a boss) is situated in the forward or inlet branch 2 of an inverted-U-shaped pipe 3, bolted or riveted to the bottom tof the ship and having an outwardly-flared mouth 5 extending through the ships bottom, so that as the vessel advances the water will rush in, according to the rate of travel, and thereby impart a rotary motion to said rotator, the water then passing along and out through the flared end 6 of the outlet branch pipe 7, as indicated by arrows in Fig. 1.

The outlet branch 7 of the pipe 3 is not situated in a direct fore-and-aft line with the inlet 2, (see Fig. 2,) but to one side, so that the ing-spindle 13 extending through suitable guides to any convenient place, by which the water may be out 01f while the ship is traveling when it'is desired to withdraw and examine the working parts or regulate the supply of water.

The rotator 1 is mounted on a rod 14, adjustably secured'by lock-nuts to a bearingsleeve 15, having a head 16, adapted to revolve between ball-bearings upon the plug 17. This plug 17 is tapered at its lower end, as at 18, in order that it may sit compactly in the flared upper end 19 of the inlet branch pipe and so form a water-tight joint. In the event of water leaking throughit may be drained off by the tap 20, having a handle 21, passing through suitable guides to any convenient position. Screwed to the plug 17 is a square cap 22, fitting loosely over the ball-bearings and rigidly connected to the bottom of a square protectorboX 23, said cap and boX neatly fitting within a pipe or casing 2 1 of 1 corresponding section and bolted to the flange 19 of the flared end 19 of the inlet-pipe. To the nipple 25 of the seating is attached a liner-tube 26 with an opening 27 opposite'the horizontal branch of the pipe 3, and its object is to protect the rotator from injury when being lowered into the inlet-pipe.

recesses and so forms an effectual lock.

"dogs are attached by cords or chains to any The object in making the parts 22, 23, and 24 square is to insure that the box and cap carrying the plug, rotator, and protecting linertube shall be lowered into their correct position, and, furthermore, that the opening in said tube shall be opposite the horizontal part of the exit-pipe in order to permit the inrushing water to be discharged. It is therefore obvious that instead of being square said parts 22, 23, and 24 may be made elliptical or of any contour other than circular.

Within the box 23 is a stirrup 28, through the bottom of which passes the upper end of the rotator-rod 14, having a cross-head 29 projecting between and beyond the sides of said stirrup and forming a vertically-adjustable connection between the propeller and the cord or chain 30, which is attached to said stirrup, the object of which is to provide for the expansion or contraction of the connecting-rods, cords, &c., and also for the vertical play that takes place between the deck 31 and bottom 4 of a ship while in motion. For the same reason the casing 2 is not fixed to the deck, but fits neatly within a sleeve 32, bolted to it.

In order to maintain the working parts in their position, there is pivotally mounted on top of the box 23 a pair of dogs or retainingpawls 33, which drop into inclined recesses 34L in the casing, so that when the valves 8 and 9 are opened any upward thrust tends to drive the dogs outwardly against the sides of the These number of guides 36 and finally to a cover 37, which fits loosely over the upwardlyproject ing part of the sleeve 32.

The rotator cord or chain 30, attached to the adjusting-stirrup 28, passes freely through holes in the box and guides to a short rod 38, attached to. a ball 39, seated in a cup 40, forming a bearing on the cover 37 for said rod, which extends upwardly, and is provided with an eye 41, which is engaged by a spring-hook 42 on another cord or chain, 43. This latter passes vertically through any suitable guides to the chart-room, where it is attached to another vertically-adjusting stirrup, similar to the before-mentioned stirrup, but having in addition a fine spiral spring 4:5 between the cross-head and bottom of said stirrup. This stirrup H communicates the rotary motion to the gear of the meter 46 and may have a circular bottom to act as a fly-disk or a separate fly-disk 30 may be attached to the rotator-cord 30, as shown. The mechanism of this meter is suitably geared according to the diameter of the inlet-pipe and is provided with a dial-face and hands which may indicate the distance traveled by the ship in knots or any other units.

In order to withdraw the whole of the parts from the inlet-pipe and easing, the valves 8 and 9 are closed, which releases the pressure from the dogs 33, so that when the rod 38 is disengaged from the spring-hook 42 and the cover 37 removed the guides, box, ball-bearings, rotator, and liner-tube may be raised.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is- 1. In a distance-indicator for ships, a pipe having an inlet and an outlet branch projecting through the ships bottom, a valve in each of the branches, a worm-wheel on the stem of each of the valves, and a worm meshing with the worm-wheel and provided with an operating-spindle.

2. In a distance-indicator for ships, a pipe provided with an inlet and an outlet branch, a rotator arranged within the inlet branch, a plug, a sleeve having a head mounted in ballbearings on the plug, and a rod attached to the rotator and adjustably connected with the sleeve.

3. In a distance-indicator for ships, a pipe having an inlet and an outlet branch, a plug having its lower end adapted to fit snugly within the upper end of the inlet branch and provided at its upper end with ball-bearings, a sleeve adapted to revolve upon the ball-bearings, a rotator arranged within the inlet branch of the pipe, and a rod secured at one end to the rotator and having its other end adjustably connected with the said sleeve.

4. In a distance-indicator for ships, a pipe having an inlet and an outlet branch, a plug arranged in the upper end of the inlet branch and carrying a liner-tube having an opening to communicate with the outlet branch, and a rotator arranged within the inlet branch.

5. In a distance-indicator for ships, a pipe having an inlet and an outlet branch, arotator arranged within the inlet branch, a stirrup, a rod connected at its lower end with the rotator and projecting through the stirrup, a crosshead carried by the rod and engaging the stirrup, a meter, and connections between the stirrup and the meter.

6. In a distance-indicator for ships, a pipe having an inlet and an outlet branch, a tapered plug adapted to fit within the upper end of the inlet branch, and a non-circular box having a similarly-shaped cap at its lower end to fit withinacorrespondingly-shaped casing.

7 In a distance-indicator for ships, a noncircular box, an adjusting device mounted within the box, and retaining dogs or pawls carried by the adjusting device and engaging recesses in the said box.

8. In a distance-indicator for ships, a pipe having an inlet and an outlet branch, the inlet branch having a flange at its upper end, a noncircular casing secured to the flange at its lower end, and a sleeve secured to the deck of the ship within which the upper end of said casing is adapted to work.

9. In a distance-indicator for ships, a pipe having an inlet and an outlet branch, a rotator arranged within the inlet branch thereof, a a spring-stirrup-adjusting device connecting bearing-sleeve, a protector-box housing a stirthe ball-bearing rod and the meter. I rup-adjusting device, a rod secured at one In witness whereof I have hereunto set my end to the rotator, and secured at its Voppohand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

site end to the sleeve and projecting into the WILLIAM CHALMERS FORBES. protector-box, a flexible device connecting Witnesses: with the stirrup, a ball-bearing rod with which EDWARD WATERS, Jr.

the said connection is connected, a meter, and WALTER C. HART. 

